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Politics : View from the Center and Left -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: cnyndwllr who wrote (92271)	10/28/2008 3:03:25 PM
From: Lane3	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 541674

You'll hate my saying this but the dividing line is fairness. Most of us will vote for someone who allocates our tax dollars to the needy, but only if they can convince us that it goes to the truly needy, that the amount is reasonable and that we're all contributing a fair [argh--how about "reasonable"? <g>] amount. I have no problem with your point, only with cavalierly labeling it "fairness." You disappeared from the fairness discussion short of offering an explanation for why that label applies. I continue to dispute your label pending your demonstration of its applicability and I continue to protest your ducking that demonstration. while I suspect your view is that many of them are greedily choosing to live off the taxpayers largesse. No, I don't think them greedy. I'm sorry if my terminology left that impression. (Since I find myself repeating myself so much, I've been trying to use various words in the hope of finding one that gets the point across. Perhaps I should have stuck with a smaller set.) For the record, I think of them much as you do. I understand the mind set of having given up. And the choice to optimize one's life given the remaining options. That's neither greedy nor worthy. It just is--a product of the system. I do not have to attribute negative intent to them to retain the thought that they are not an asset. The bottom 10% of the bell curve aren't going to go to college and even if you paid them to go, they aren't going to get a college requisite job.... ...at least an equal number of us will not vote for those who take money from us and give it to others. It's those of us in the middle who can be convinced. Numbers. There are a couple of important numbers. The first is the ten percent. When the feds first got into the business of helping the needy we were looking at small numbers like ten percent. It's no big deal for ninety percent of the population to support the ten percent, so why not. But the ratio is changing. The other number is 51%. When the contributors are in the minority, then what? No decisive middle. Ain't democracy great?